The Spruce Pine town council approved a master plan, though they’re not calling it that. Dr. Gary Cooper is given credit. Cooper is not an elected official, but he was contracted to oversee the project. It followed the normal pattern of holding lots of visioning meetings. Not astonishingly, the people managed to reach consensus on the same vision of New Urbanism that the people in any town have generated for the last ten years or so.
According to the Mitchell News-Journal, “The first step in the land use plan is to create an identity, or a brand for Spruce Pine.” Needs identified by the people and researched by Cooper (nod nod, wink wink) were:
• outdoor meeting areas downtown
• downtown anchors
• better access to Riverside Park
• better connection to the surrounding neighborhoods
• unifying the 226 corridor
• mid-income level multi-family housing
• definition of the downtown boundaries . . .
• an extra-territorial jurisdiction [to] help the town in annexing more areas in order to grow . . .
• financing
From the illustration in the newspaper article, it appears there may also be a need for a new town hall and the elimination of motorized vehicles.
